“It’s one of the few things that … pulls us together when the outside world is really tough.” Exploring the outcomes and challenges of a charity-led community garden in a disadvantaged English city

Abstract

This article explores a charity-led community gardening project working in a disadvantaged community in northern England and provides a detailed analysis of the outcomes for vulnerable people. This article contributes to the research on community gardens by emphasising the need to plan for long-term sustainability. The project received external funding for 3 years and implemented urban agriculture activities based around a community garden and a team of volunteers. The project successfully engaged marginalised people, who strongly voiced outcomes including increased skills and confidence, reduced isolation, improved health and wellbeing, and the opportunity to give back to their local community. Support from staff, volunteering in a team, enjoying gardening and accessing nature provided a strong platform for engagement and impacts. However, there were also significant challenges which required ongoing professional management such as ensuring a safe and comfortable environment. In addition, after the funding finished, the future of the community garden was fragile and marginalised participants were vulnerable to outcomes not being sustained in the long term. KEYWORDSCommunity gardening marginalised people charity volunteering long-term sustainabilityThis article critically analyses the potential for community gardens to bring long-term benefits to marginalised people. The article first describes the benefits and challenges of community gardens from the literature before then presenting the detailed case study of a charity-led, externally funded community garden in a disadvantaged urban area in the north of England. The research explores outcomes for marginalised people through focusing on the stories of participants, in line with Creamer' s (2015, 987) approach to understanding local interpretations of sustainability by allowing "themes to emerge unrestricted by preconceptions, frameworks and theories. " The participants describe how they volunteered with the project because they enjoyed gardening, wanted to work in a team and took the opportunity to be involved in a positive project which brought them out of their homes. Involvement in the garden brought a wide range of benefits including enjoyment, developing skills and confidence, reduced isolation, improved health and wellbeing, and the opportunity to give back to their local community. However, the participants also voiced a range of critical feedback on the project and were particularly concerned about the future of the community garden when the funding was due to finish. The article, therefore, provides an essential and sometimes overlooked perspective on the need to plan for long-term sustainability (Seghezzo 2009). Critically exploring the outcomes and challenges of a charity-led community gardening project provides important lessons for the growing number of other similar projects (Tornaghi 2014). Community gardening is a growing movement and there are many different types including: school gardens; entrepreneurial gardens; crime diversion gardens; ther...

The Relationship of Urban Farming with Horticultural Therapy for Urbanites: A Systematic Review

“…Referred to Table 3, from the viewpoint of urban farming elements, a potential alternative source for viable and significant outcomes would be a horticultural therapy interaction subject to nature-based elements. Studies determined that nature-based elements can provide eleven (11) horticultural therapy outcomes, which are the most significant compared to other elements (Table 3) (Bailey & Kingsley, 2022;Basu et al, 2021;Chou, 2017;Dubová et al, 2020;Kley & Dovbishchuk, 2021;Middle et al, 2014;Ramsden, 2021;Tharrey et al, 2019;Truong et al, 2022). Thus, the findings presented above are consistent https://doi.org/10.24191/bej.v21i1.401 ©Authors, 2024 with understanding how urban farming improves mental and physical health (reduce urban stress) by expanding agricultural products and activities within cities.…”

Community gardens and urban agriculture: Healthy environment/healthy citizens

“…Surprisingly, there seems to be no current literature describing other community gardens in which gardeners raise money to donate to organizations outside their home country. Many tend to be involved with raising funds for schools, charities, and local community organizations (Adams et al, 2015; Ferris et al, 2001; Miller, 2015), and some gardens promote the health of marginalized or vulnerable people through food security and improved access to healthy foods (Armstrong, 2000; Furness & Gallaher, 2018; Kirwan et al, 2013; Ramsden, 2021). This presents a unique opportunity for the GGG to further explore and share how this global partnership benefits both the fundraisers and the recipients.…”

“…The benefits of gardening and exposure to green spaces are even more pronounced in mental health studies as research reports improved self‐esteem and mood, reduced anxiety and depression, and relief from acute stress (Beyer et al, 2014; Van Den Berg & Custers, 2011; Wood et al, 2016). In addition to these individual health benefits, community gardens represent a form of community engagement that can build social capital through creating a diverse, sustainable, and cohesive urban space (Ramsden, 2021).…”

Unexpected effects of urban food activism on community and human wellbeing

“…The positive effects of gardening, community food activism, social-connectivity, and being outdoors include reductions in stress, depression and anxiety and improvements in health, self-esteem, sleep patterns and overall wellbeing (Bu et al 2021 ; Glover 2021 ; van den Berg et al 2010 ; Wood, Pretty, and Griffin 2016 ). Community food growing can be a means of instigating collective action (Nam and Dempsey 2018 ), facilitating the enhancement of employability skills (Ramsden 2021 ; St Clair et al 2018 ), and developing social and cultural resilience through creating space for communication, knowledge exchange and shared decision-making (Cumbers et al 2018 ; King 2008 ; St Clair et al 2018 ).…”

“…Authors that do address negative aspects, particularly for community gardens, tend to focus on neoliberalism and political agendas causing unequal access to food, lack of social security, and gentrification of neighbourhoods (Haase et al 2017 ; McClintock 2014 ; Sonnino and Hanmer 2016 ). Others point out that these groups are predominately white and middle-class in themselves (Ramsden 2021 ; St Clair et al 2018 ), or include multi-ethnic groups under white, middle-class leadership (Furness and Gallaher 2018 ; Glover 2021 ), which can exacerbate cultural exclusion (McVey, Nash, and Stansbie 2018 ).…”